Festival activities

The Travelling Film festivalTravelling film festival is committed to offer local audiences access to documentary films they would not have the opportunity to see.

The travelling film festival will visit remote villages and islands in the Saloum River Delta that are not connected to the electric grid. As an educational tool designed to promote environmental awareness and community participation in conservation work, the film festival will screen mainly documentary films featuring remarkable ecosystems, emblematic species, world heritage sites and initiatives dealing with the sustainable use and management of the natural and cultural heritage.

The film festival will seek to facilitate a direct and invaluable dialogue between film industry professionals from abroad, local audiences and Senegal’s emerging film community.

Cultural evenings and concerts

Music concerts, dance performances, drum circles and storytelling events will be organized in different villages to reveal to the public local talents, local cultural features and productions from the dance and music workshops.

The cultural evenings will attract the attention and interest of local residents and the natives of the Saloum River Delta who moved out to live in other regions and urban areas in Senegal. The contribution of professionals from other regions and countries will also increase community mobilization.

The cultural evenings are organized in open spaces where the local population can become part of the cultural performance as spectators, reveal their artistic talents and interact directly with other participants.

WorkshopsDifferent workshops are organized to explore the natural and cultural heritage of the Saloum River Delta and the complex but expressive contemporary art and music production in Africa and in the African Diaspora.

The music workshop with a focus on hip-hop, reggae, jazz and afrobeat will contribute in the improvement of cultural practices and an understanding of arts and music through the application and use of new technologies and global communication systems.

The video and nature photography workshops will offer practical training to young people with a particular interest for establishing micro and small creative enterprises.

The Senegalese dance and music workshop will attract people from different countries and background in search for experiential learning opportunities and an explorative immersion in Senegalese culture and society.

Excursions

Visiting the wonders of the Saloum River Delta and its numerous islands constitute an important part of the Island Festival.

Excursions are guided tours organized by ecologists and rangers from the Saloum River Delta National Park to learn more mangroves and estuarine ecosystems, and to discover the particular cultural heritage that led to the inscription of the area as a UNESCO’s World Heritage Site.

Youth Environmental ConferenceThe aim of Conference is to inspire connect and educate local youth on critical issues related to the preservation of protected areas and the sustainable use and management of the natural and cultural heritage of the Saloum River Delta.

The Youth Environmental Conference is a full weekend of educational and fun activities geared toward youth between the ages of 13 and 18. The participants will attend environmental workshops on various subjects and participate in different experiential learning activities as to enable young people to become agents of change.

Traditional wrestling competition

This competition will gather young wrestlers from different villages of the Saloum River Delta and selected invitees.

A traditional wrestling competition offers a unique opportunity to display songs, dances and traditional belief systems at the heart of today’s most popular sport and art form in Senegal.

This activity will also be of prime importance to raise awareness about the link between nature and cultural heritage. Furthermore, an exploration of the aesthetic meanings embedded in traditional wrestling and the impact of local rural cultures in reshaping the cultural landscape in urban areas provides opportunities to reassess the vitality of the local cultural heritage at national and global level.